Tag: Pioneer League

Ballers run out of innings to catch Jakcalopes in 12-10 loss

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The Grand Junction Jackalopes and the Oakland Ballers did battle Sat May 31, 2025 at Raimondi Field in West Oakland (photo by the Oakland Ballers)

Grand Junction Jackalopes( 3-8) 100 215 201 12 14 5

Oakland Ballers (6-5) 011 010 070 10 11 5

Saturday, May 31, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The Ballers almost pulled off a comeback for the ages this pleasant evening in West Oakland scoring seven runs in the bottom of the eighth and fell two runs short losing to the Grand Junction Jackalopes 12-10.

Trailing the visiting woebegone Jackalopes 11-3 in the bottom of the eighth, the B’s staged a seven run rally, capped by Cam Bufford’s one out two run homer to right center field, to bring them with a single tally of a tie.

That blast, ironically, proved to be a rally killer. After Bufford sent the spheroid over the fence, Reese Miller relieved Cade Flaherty, stopped the home team in its tracks, and set them down in order in the ninth to earn his second save of the season.

The game was exciting but not well played; each team committed five errors. They went through a dozen pitchers; the Jacks used seven and the B’s five. Junction’s hurlers threw 177; Oakland’s, 163.

A quick glance at an abbreviated version of the visitors’ pitching numbers table might give a better sense of what happened than any narrative could. The Ballers’ numbers were similar, but there’s nothing to be gained by fatiguing you with evidence of how ineffectively the hurlers plyed their trade

Pitcher IP R ER H SO BB WP HP BLK HR Pitches

Tyler Curtis 4-1/3 3 2 6 3 0 0 2 1 0 86

Tai Atkins (W) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

Zach DeVito 1 0 0 o 1 0 0 0 0 0 20

Aydan Alger 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 17

Mark Schommer 1/3 4 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 21

Cade Flaherty, et al

The game began, like so many others, with the teams jockeying for position. The Jacks jumped out to an early one run lead, the B’s came back to lead 2-1 after three. Junction responded with a pair of runs in the fourth, and the two teams traded one run fifth. The breakout occured in the top of the sixth, on RBI singles by Zeb Roos and Kendall Foster and what looked like the coup de grace, a three run four bagger by Robin Fernández that gave the Jackalopes a seemingly definitive 9-3 lead. The Ballers scored seven runs in the

But, as the Cubans say, all we know about baseball is that it’s round and comes in a square box. The B’s went quietly in their half of the sixth, and the Coloradans tacked on another two tallies, neither of them earned, in an inning marked by two Oakand errors. The outlook sure wasn’t brilliant for the Oaktown Nine that day. The score stood 11-3 with but 2-1/2 innings left to play.

But the B’s bounced back. Esai Santos singled, driving in Pat Monteith and Danny Harris. It now was 11-5. There was a tiny bit of hope left among the Baller faithful. Davis Drewek doubled, sending Tremayne Cobb, i Santos, and Dillon Tatum across the plate to narrow the gap to 11-8. That little ray of hope grew larger. Cam Buffard was up next. His round tripper made it an 11-10 game.

And then the wind went out of Oakland’s sails. Buffard was the last Baller to reach base. Zeb Roos’s double, which plated Luis Hernández with Junction’s twelth run, felt like a mere formality.

Roos led the Jackalopes with four hits, followed by Foster with three, and a trio of batters—Fernández, Matt Piotrowski, and Evan Scavotto—each with two. Scavotto didn’t enter the fray until the sixth.

This six game series will conclude Sunday afternoon, with fireworks or duds or a combination of both commencing at 1:05. It sounds like a fine way to welcome in June.

Ballers late innings runs payoff in 9-6 win over Jackalopes

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The Oakland Ballers scored twice in the eighth and three times in the ninth to cash in late in the game to defeat the Grand Junction Jackalopes Sun Jun 1, 2025 at Raimondi Park in West Oakland (Oakland Ballers photo)

Grand Junction Jackalopes (3-9) 000 310 200 6 12 5

Oakland Ballers (7-5) 130 000 23x 9 12 0

Time: 2:29

Attendance: 2,367

Sunday, June 1, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–It’s been said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Last Sunday’s 9-6 Ballers triumph over the Jackalopes bore many resemblances to last evening’s 12-10 defeat at the hands of the visitors.

Both games featured an eighth inning, come from behind rally by the B’s. There was, of course, a noticeable difference; in the second of the two games, the sixth and final encounter of the series, the hometown team didn’t just turn a rout into a nail biter; it converted an impending loss into a well earned victory.

There was no fire visible from the stands today, but the scoreboard’s malfunctioning gave an encore performance. The Jackalopes once more committed five errors while the B’s defence, although not flawless, wasn’t charged with any errors.

For something new and completely different, second baseman Nick Leehey, fresh from his graduation from UC Davis, signed with the Ballers and made his professional debut. He fielded well but went 0-4 with three strikeouts, all swinging.

Each team used five pitchers. Right hander Zach St. Pierre started for Oakland and lasted four innings, during which he threw 66 pitches to 20 batters and yielded three runs, all of them earned, on seven hits and two walks while fanning two.

He was followed by Caleb Franzen (three runs, all earned), three hits and a walk, a pitch count of 34 in 2-1/3 innings; Connor Richardon made a cameo appearance of 2/3 of an inning and wasn’t charged with any runs, but the last two runs attributed to Franzen were one that Richardson had inherited from Franzen to score. Brody Eglite threw a 13 pitch perfect eighth to earn the win and now is 1-0). Connor Sullivan notched his mowed the Jackaloopes down, one, two, three in top of the ninth to earn his third save of 2025.

Oakland opened the scoring in a scrappy but not particularly confidence inspiring way. Tremayne Cobb, still struggling to regain his mojo at the plate—although I can’t think of a player who wouldn’t want to have his post game BA of .404—drew a leadoff walk.

The Jacks’ third baseman, Robin Fernández, committed an error that allowed the next batter, Pat Monteith, to take first while Cobb moved up 90 feet, into scoring position. A full count walk to Davis Drewek made the basepaths FOB (Full of B’s), to put new wine into the old bottle of Red Barber’s way of categorizing three on base Brooklyn Dodgers.

Cam Bufford hit into a 6-4-3 double play, plating Cobb, and the Ballers went ahead, 1-0, without recording a hit or run batted in.

They added another three runs to their lead in the next episode. Consecutive singles by Tyler Lozano, Daryll Bogs II, and Cobb clogged the basepaths. Monteith blooped a Texas League single to right that drove in Buggs and Lozano and advanced Cobb to third. Cobb came home when Drewek, the next B to come to the plate, singled to left.

In their half of the fourth, Grand Junction removed any complacency the Ballers and their fans might have begun to harbor. The Jackalopes cut their deficit by three runs on an RBI single by Isaac Núñez, a bases loaded walk to Luis Hernández, and a sacrifice fly to center by Zeb Roos in the next inning, they completely wiped out Oakland’s lead. Evan Scavotto doubled with two down and scored on Mason Minzey’s single to right against Caleb Franzen, who had relieved St. Pierre at the start of the frame.

Franzen kept the visitors off the board until the top of the seventh. With one away, he walked Kendall Foster, who reached third on a single to right by Robin Fernández. Exit Franzen, enter Conner Richardson. Scavotto singled to left, and Minzey’s doubled to the same field. Both runs were charged to Franzen. More important, Grand Junction now was ahead, 6-4.

Evan Massie had started for the Jacks and pitched decently. With his team’s resurgence, he stood to be the winning pitcher. He should have stood in bed. (Thank you, Dizzy Dean). Aydan Alger lasted 2/3 of an inning and coughed up the lead thanks to singles by Monteith and Drewek and a two out single by Dannie Harris IV that caused Alger to get the hook. Another single by Christian Almanza, this one off Tai Atkins, and Oakland was back on top, this time to stay.

A trio of Jackalopes hit for extra bases; Zeb Roos, Evan Scavotto, and Mason Minzey connected for a two bagger apiece. None of the Ballers had an extra base hit, but four of them had a multihit afternoon. Monteith, Drewek, and Buggs formed the trio each member of which contributed a pair of safeties; Harris went three for five and drove in three runs.

The win left Oakland tied with three other teams for fourth place in the overall Pioneer Baseball League standings. The team is scheduled to fly Monday morning at 8:00 o’clock to Portland. They’ll bus from there to Flathead County, MT, where they’ll take on the GlacierRange Riders, of the teams with whom they’re deadlocked for a six game series.

Next on the itinerary are three mid-week games against the Missoula Paddleheads. Then, it’s on to Ogden to battle the Raptors on Friday the 13th through Sunday the 16th. After a brief day of rest, they’ll return, as Al Jolson predicted, weary at heart, back where they started from, back in their own back yard to duke it out once more in a six game set-to with Grand Junction.

Ballers get quality start from Matsuoka in 9-1 win over Grand Junction

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Oakland Ballers pitcher Dylan Matsuoka was dealing pitching five innings of three hit, one run baseball against the Grand Junction Jackalopes at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Thu May 29, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Grand Junction Jackalopes (2-7) 001 000 000 1 6 1

Oakland Ballers (5-4) 300 014 10x 9 14 0

Time: 2:44

Attendance:1,229

Thursday, May 29, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The Ballers’ romp through the 8-1/2 innings of this Thursday evening’s 9-1 resounding victory over the Grand Junction Jackalopes began as if the visitors were picking up where they had left off on Wednesday, when they dominated their hosts, 5-0.

While the air still was warm and the sun brilliant,, the ‘lopes loaded the bases with one out, only to return to the dugout two batters later with nothing more than a goose egg in the run column to show for it. The B’s came up in their half of the first and returned with a two spot on the board, and they were off and running over the .500 line, leaving Grand Junction in the dust behind them and ending the day at 5-4 .

Tremayne Cobb, Jr., who had seen his eight game hitting streak end on Wednesday, re-established himself as a two threat by going three for four, which brought his batting average up to .439, and showing off some pretty flashy glove work along with getting off a few strong and accurate throws.

Cobb’s partner on the left side of the infield, Davis Drewek, also had a multi-hit evening, going two for four. Those two hits were a fifth inning homer to right center and a sixth inning, two RBI double. All told, the B’s third baseman drove in three tallies. Christian Almanza and Daniel Harris IV also cleared the fences. Lou Helmig and Cam Buffard joined Drewek, Almanza, and Harris as run producers.

The win went to the Ballers’ starter, Dylan Matsuoka, who now is 2-0, 1.80. He allowed the only Jackalope run, which was earned, surrendering three hits and a walk against seven strikeouts and a wild pitch. His pitch count was 89, and he faced 28 batters.

Caleb Franzen relieved him for the sixth and allowed nothing more than a lead off single. Alec Rodríguez gave up a hit another else over the seventh and eighth episodes, and James Colyer closed out the rout with two strikeouts, a couple of walks, and then a a backward K that sent the dwindling crowd (if that noun can be used to describe what was left of the 1,229 paying customers) happy.

The loss was charged to Grand Canyon’s starter, Riley Egloff, whose record dropped from 0-0, 3,00 to 0-1, 5.23, The four runs he allowed in his 4-1/3 inning long stint were earned and came on nine hits, two of the yard, two walks and a wild pitch.

Ethan Brown also gave up four runs, all of them earned. He managed to do this on 34 pitches over 1-1/3 frames. This was after Tai Atkins, Egloff’s replacement had retired the two B’s he faced. Ethan Brown (four runs, all earned, on three hits in 2-1/3 innings) and Cade Flaherty, who gave up Harris’s round tripper in the bottom of the eighth, completed the list of sacrificial lambs that Grand Junction sacrificed on the altar of the pitching rubber).

Which way will the pendulum swing Friday the 30th? We’ll know after the game, scheduled for a 6:35 start, is over.

Jackalopes Zaborowski allows one hit in 5-0 shutout of Ballers Wednesday

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Oakland Ballers catcher Tyler Lazano (left) and pitcher Luke Short (right) exchange pleasantries at Raimondi Field as they took on the Grand Junction Jackalopes on Wed May 28, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Grand Junction Jackalopes (2-6) 200 0200 100 5 8 0]

Oakland Ballers (4-4) 000 000 000 0 3 3

Time: 2:21

Attendance: 1,358

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–What a difference a week makes! After his first start of 2025, the Jackalope’s 22 year old righthander Zach Zaborowski’s numbers were 0-1, 4.76 with a WHIP of 1.41. After he got through frustrating the Ballers in Wednesday night’s contest at Ernie Raimondi Park in a 5-0 shutout, those figures stood at 1-1, 2.13 and 0.87.

Ah, well, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, and the 23 year old from Westfield, IN gave his hosts seven innings of one hit woe before yielding the mound to Aydan Alger, allowed them two hits in the remaining two frames but preserved the shutout, the first the Oakanders have suffered so far this season.

The Jackalopes jumped to an early lead and never looked back. Luke Short, Oakland’s southpaw starter, walked Jeb Roos, the first batter he faced. Center fielder Alex Pimentel followed him in the batting order and cleared the basepaths as both trotted around the diamond on Pimentel’s fence clearing blast to right.

Short held the Jackalopes in check for a while but weakened in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded and two away, manager Aaron Miles decided that Short had hung around long enough; the bases were loaded with two down.

The skipper called on portsider Brody Eglite to put out the fire. It didn’t work out as he had planned. Evan Scavoto singled to right and continued on to second on Lou Helmig’s error. Kendall Foster, one of the two men on board advanced to third, and the other two, crossed the plate, doubling Grand Junction’s lead to 4-0. One of those runs was unearned, coming on an error by B’s backstop, Tyler Lozano. Both of the runs were charged to Short.

It was all over but the shouting. One of the casualties of defeat, which dropped the Baller’s back down to the .500 mark, Tremayne Cobb’s seven game hitting streak. For all the disappointment the Baller backers suffered, it was the best pitched game played in Raimondi Park in recent memory.

The six game series will continue Thursday, and Friday at 6:35, followed by a 4:35 start on Saturday and the final encounter on Sunday at 1:05.

Ballers edge Jackalopes in 4-3 win; St Pierre pitching enough for Oakland win

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Oakland Ballers pitcher Zach St Pierre got a quality start over the Grand Junction Jackalopes at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Tue May 27, 2025

Grand Junction Jackalopes (1-6) 020 010 000 3 4 1

Oakland Ballers (4-3) 100 000 21x 4 8 1

Time: 2:17

Attendance: 1,311

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–In a tense battle, the Ballers crossed the .500 line this chilly Tuesday night by sneaking past the visiting Grand Junction Jackalopes by a score of 4-3 in a game filled with reversals of expectations and which hinged on the Pioneer League’s idiosyncratic and confusing challenge rule.

The Ballers drew first blood, when the ‘lopes’ starting pitcher, Joe Cuomo, walked Tremayne Cobb, Jr., who proceeded to pilfer second, advance to third on Davis Drewek’s single to left, and come home when Daniel Harris IV grounded out to short.

That was the last run the B’s managed to plate against Cuomo, who went on to post a line from his first to his 75th and final offering of one, earned, run on four hits and one walk, balanced by one strike out over 5-2/3 innings. He wound up with a no decision.

Oakland’s starter, Zach St Pierre, looked sharp in the first, but surrendered back to back homer to the first two batters he faced in the second, Mason Minzey and Robin Fernández. But St. Pierre recovered quickly and ended his six inning stint with a respectable three runs, all earned, on four hits, and one walk.

He, too, left the park with a no decision. Grand Junction’s third and final tally put them ahead, 3-2, in the top of the fifth, after Isaac Núñez led off with a double, moved on to third when Alex Pimentel sacrifice him and Zeb Roos, who’d been hit by a pitch, up a base, and then scored on Matt Piotrowski’s ground out to the hot corner.

It looked as if things might stay that way until the Ballers pulled even in home seventh. Tal Atkins had taken over for Cuomo to strike Drewek out to close down the hosts’ sixth. He got Harris to ground out to short and then surrendered a home run to designated pinch hitter Pat Monteith. (The DPH rule is another Pioneer League quirkinesss; it allows—under certain circumstances— the original batter to return to the game after the DPH has competed his plate appearance.

In this case that original batter was Christian Almaza). That brought Mark Schommer to the hill. He loaded the bases by allowing a single to Cam Buffard, walking Marques Titialii, and plunking Tyler Lozano. A single to short by Darryl Buggs brought the speedy Buffard home with the tying tally. Cobb almost broke the tie by unloading a smash a smash to third, but Fernández managed to field it and unleashed a throw that cut down Titialii at the plate.

Drewek led off the home eighth and with a full count was called out on strikes. He challenged the call, and it was reversed. Harris followed with an RBI double, and Oakland had a 4-3 lead. Schommer set the next three Ballers down in order, but Drewek’s decision to challenge home plate umpire Mike Blanchard’s call was the pivot that irremediably changed the course of events.

Connor Sullivan set the Jackalopes down in order in the ninth to earn the save, his first of the season. The win went to the newly acquired Caleb Franzen, whose one two three top of the eighth had made him the pitcher of record when the B’s pulled victory from the jaws of defeat.

It was, perhaps, the most exciting game of the Ballers’ young season. And it could not have happened in any in any other league.

What new surprises await us at 6:35 Wednesday, evening? Come on down to 1690 20th Street in West Oakland for the second of this six game series and find out.

Ballers use six pitchers can’t hold Raptors in 8-2 loss at Raimondi

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The scores says it all a tough day for Oakland Baller pitchers six pitchers used in a six run loss to the Ogden Raptors at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Sun May 25, 2025 in Pioneer League action (Oakland Ballers X photo)

Ogden Raptors (3-3) 300 301 001 8 11 1

Oakland Baller (3-3) 001 000 001 2 10 1

Time: 2:52

Attendance: 1,954

Sunday, May 25, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The high flying Oakland Ballers came tumbling down to earth in this Memorial Weekend’s Sunday afternoon encounter with the Ogden Raptors in a bright, chilly, and sparsely attended Ernie Raimondi Park.

The final score was 8-2 in favor of the visitors. For all the one-sidedness of all but the first of this six game series, the teams are fairly evenly matched. Like the statistician who drowned fording a river with an average depth of six inches, they illustrate that the devil really is in the details.

The first pitch was thrown at 1:05, and the Ballers quickly fell behind, 2-0, with one out in the top of the first. That was the closest they came to a tie before the final out was recorded at 3:57, two slowly passing hours and 52 minutes in which the Oaklanders had a chance to experience the same tortures they had inflicted on their opponents only a day earlier, in their 9-2 triumph over these same Raptors.

Oakland sent five pitchers to the mound. The starter, Dylan Porter, gave up six in his 3-1/3 inning stint, although half of them were unearned. Only James Colyer, who took over for him and allowed an inherited runner to score, and Conner Richardson, who set Ogden down in order in the eighth, escaped without having a run charged to their accounts. Alec Rodríguez and Conner Sullivan respectively allowed a run—earned—in his two and one inning appearance.

What Ballers lacked in pitching, they made up in hitting … and frustration. They made ten hits in 35 at bats, a respectable .286 team BA. They also stranded 11 runners. Tremayne Cobb once more had a multihit game, going two for four. He was the only Baller to break the one hit barrier. Marquez Titialii’s ninth inning lead off double was the team’s only extra base hit.

Every Raptor in the starting lineup except Kenny Oyama got at least one hit, and he managed to walk and score two times. Elliot Good and Cole Jordan had multihit afternoons, with three and two respectively. Miguel Hernández turned in a good performance in his 5-1/3 inning start for the visitors, yielding one run, which was earned, on seven hits and two walks and throwing 95 pitches in the process.

Shawn Tripplett and Cameron Edmonson blanked the B’s through the eighth frame, Tripplett on no hits and a walk in 1-1/3 innings; Edmonson, on a hit and a walk in one. Nik Cardinal mopped up in the ninth. Oakland got to him for a run—earned— on two hits and a base on balls, but it was too little, too late.

After a day off Monday to recuperate, the Ballers will start another six day series on Tuesday, the 30th. They’ll face the Grand Junction Jackalopes (1-5 and 11th in the Pioneer League’s overall standings). The Ballers now are 3-3, tied with the Raptors for sixth place). Game time will be 6:35p.

Ogden rolls over Ballers 12-5; Oakland’s Drewek gets 1st homer of the season

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Oakland Ballers Davis Drewek connects in the bottom of the second inning against the Ogden Raptors in Pioneer League action at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Wed May 21, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Ogden Raptors (1-1) 620 020 200 12 14 2

Oakland Ballers (1-1) 020 021 000 5 7 4

Time: 2:55

Attendance: 2,257

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The ball rolled downhill at Ernie Raimondi Park Wednesday night after Tuesday’s heady success against the Ogden Raptors (1-1) as the Oakland Ballers (1-1) took a 12-5 loss to the Raptors. The attendance dropped from a full house of 4,100 fans to a disappointing 2,257.

The Ballers management wasn’t expecting a repeat of opening Tuesday night’s crowd, but they had been predicting a near sell-out. The Ballers used five pitchers, and only Alec Rodríguez and Esai Santos, who tossed the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, emerged unscored upon.

The most egregious hurler was the starter, Zach St. Pierre, who began the 2024 season as a denizen of the bullpen, but was chosen as the Ballers’ second starter of their second season. He lasted two innings and yielded eight runs.

It should be noted in his defence that only one was earned, but that didn’t keep him from being charged with the loss Oakland’s defense was nothing if not porous. Seven of Ogden’s tallies were unearned.

The Raptors took a commanding 6-0 lead in the initial frame and never looked back. They tacked on a pair of runs in each of the second, fifth, and seventh episodes. Left fielder Cole Jordan was their only hitless starter, while right fielder Damian Stone and second baseman True Fontenot had three hit innings.

Leadoff batter Kenneth Oyama enjoyed a two hit performance, as did first baseman Carter Mize, slammed a four bagger to right in the devastating first. The only Baller to clear the fence was third sacker Davis Drewek, who drove in both of Oakland’s runs in their meek attempt at a comeback in the second with a round trip drive to left.

Raptors southpaw starter, Chase Chapman, lasted only four innings on the bump and so was denied credit for the win, which was no injustice. It took him 86 pitches to get through so few innings, and he surrendered four runs, all of them earned in them.

Shane Gustafon, who allowed the Ballers their fifth and final tally, an unearned run that came on a two out infield single to Cliff Bufford, whose misadventures at the hot corner on Tuesday had earned him the role of DH tonight. Nick Cardinal earned the save with three innings of work in which he shut the Ballers down with but a single walk.

We’ll see what Thursday’s, third of this six game series has to offer. Game time again is 6:35, and the starters have yet to be announced.

Ballers defeat Ogden 5-4 in first KO round at Raimondi Park

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Oakland Ballers Treymayne Cobb (3) runs around the field but not around the bases. In the Pioneer League a hitter doesn’t run the bases in a KO round if it’s a home run. Cobb hit one out in the first round of the KO at Raimondi Park in Oakland (photo by Oakland Ballers X)

Ogden Raptors (0-1) 000 010 300 0 4 6 2

Oakland Ballers (1-0) 001 000 003 1 5 11 2

Decided in 1st KO Round

Time: 2:59

Attendance: 4,100

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Tuesday night’s season opener, played between the Ogden Raptors and the Oakland Ballers before a festive sell-out crowd of 4,100, was a game of constantly revised expectations. Oakland’s Tremayne Cobb, Jr., playing in his first professional game, went five for five and won the game for the Ballers by smacking a home run in the first knockout round, an innovation that is the Pioneer League’s contribution to the theater of the absurd.

Ballers’ speedy third baseman, Cam Buffard made a costly error in the seventh frame in a situation that was set up by an infield single on which he easily might have been charged with an error, after which his high throw to second on what had started out as an around the horn double play ended up as a rare 5-4-3 ground out.

His ground out to second with runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth stalled the Ballers’ rally that ended up tying the regulation portion of the game and forcing the knockout round. Luke Short, Oakland’s starting pitcher, pitched four beautiful innings, striking out seven Raptors without granting a base on balls and allowing only one hit before running out of steam and failing to retire even one opponent in the top of the fifth.

Ogden seemed to have wrapped up the contest with its three run outburst in the seventh only to be forced into a tie when Oakland’s bats finally came alive in the bottom of the ninth.

That set the stage of Ballers’ anticlimactic knockout victory. Under the K.0 rule, each team designates different hitters until a winner is a hitter who is allowed five swings against a pitcher provided by his own team or five minutes at the plate, whichever comes first.

The winner is determined by which team hits the most homers. If the round ends in a tie, each team selects a new batter, and the process is repeated until one of the teams mercifully breaks it.

Tuesday night, Ogden chose their catcher, Chris Sargent, who led them in home runs last season and had gone one for four in the game. He took five swings, none of them successful. Cobb’s first was.

None of Ogden’s batters hit for extra bases, although two of them had multi-hit night’s, Edwin de la Cruz (three for three with a couple of RBI) and Damian Stone (two for four). Bufford legged out a double for Oakland.

There was no winning or losing pitcher.

The Pioneer League follows a schedule of six consecutive games, Tuesday through Sunday, between the same two teams, so Wednesday will see another 6:30pm PDT contest between Tuesday night’s opponents. The starting pitchers haven’t yet been announced.

Minor League action: SJ Giants best Ballers 5-2 at Municipal Stadium Wednesday

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Battle of the Bay promotional image hangs on the fence at Municipal Park in San Jose before Wed Apr 2, 2025 game between the Oakland Ballers and San Jose Giants (San Jose Giants X photo)

Oakland Ballers—2 San José Giants—5

Time: 2:22

Attendance 2,843

April 2, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

SAN JOSE’–Baseball has a long tradition of in-season exhibition games, complimenting the pre-season variety. In the days before teams travelled by plane, the two major leagues would travel by overnight train between games in their informal eastern and western divisions, based respectively in the Eastern and Central Time zones.

These big league teams would stop off in the afternoon and play, often against their local farm clubs. Even after those whistle stop exhibitions, for which the players weren’t paid, ended, midseason contests between local major league teams remained popular.

New York had its Mayor’s Cup Series, in which the Dodgers and Giants vied alternatively against the Yankees and in which bonus babies like Sandy Koufax, who otherwise would have languished on the bench, got a chance to see some big league action.

(In the early 1950s, a player who received a signing bonus north of $4,000 had to remain on his team’s 25 man roster for two full seasons or be placed on waivers). The bonus baby rule was dropped after the 1957 season, just before the Dodgers and Giants moved west.

Locally, after the A’s moved into The Town in 1968, we had our Battle of the Bay, in which fans of the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants took mid-season time off from the pennant races to give often literal meaning to that moniker. Those days seemed to be gone forever.

But in a stroke of marketing genius, the Giants’ low single A California League farm team in San José and Oakland’s unaffiliated Ballers of the MLB’s partner Pioneer League, faced each other this evening in an exhibition match in which the Giants easily crushed the visitor’s from the east bay, 5-2, The score belies the game’s one sidedness.

The home team’s play was crisp; the visitors’ wan’t. No Baller hurler lasted more than an inning; the team was behind once Walker Martin blasted a solo home run to right in the bottom of the first. . Tyler Lozano’s solo shot to left knotted the score briefly in the top of the second, but the Giants forged ahead in the home fourth, and the closest Oakland came to scoring after that came when they left the bases loaded in the top of the ninth. The image that perhaps best represents the Ballers’ unreadiness for prime time is the two runners who fell gratuitously to the basepaths, one early, the other late in the game.

It was a lively crowd for what was publicized as an historic occasion. That might have been an exaggeration. But this first meeting between an affiliated minor league baseball club and a member of what’s called a partner league may prove to be a turning point in the relationship between the MLB, MiLB combine—what used to be called Organized Baseball—and its grass roots.

The game was played under California League rules, eliminating the confusion caused by those of the Pioneer circuit, which include a complex system of ball and strike calls and allowing re-entry to players temporarily removed from action.

A true amalgam, this was both a pre- and an in-season set to. For the teams on the field, it occurred at the end of spring training for one and at its very start for the otherl San José opens its regular season this coming Friday in Modesto, Oakland’s spring training starts in about a month. Its regular season opener won’t take place May 20. That probably explains the qualitative difference in their performances.MLB began official play on March 18 in Tokyo and on the 27th state side.

As of this writing, no official box score has been released. By my reckoning, the Ballers used nine pitchers, with Mac Lardner taking the loss. Since Charlie McDaniel, San José’s starter, was on the pitcher of record when the Giants went ahead for the last time, but didn’t pitch after that, the winner would have to be the scorer’s decision. To the best of my knowledge, that decision is TBA.

Ballers keep playoff hopes alive in edging Wheelers 1-0 at Raimondi; Series tied at 1-1

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A sell out crowd of 3,277 took in the action at Raimondi Park in Oakland in game 2 of the Pioneer League Playoff between the Yolo High Wheelers and the Oakland Ballers on Thu Sep 12, 2024 (Oakland Ballers photo)

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Oakland Ballers (1-1) 000 010 00x 1 5 0

Time: 2:13

Attendance: 3,277

Thursday, September 12, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–This Thursday evening, before an enthusiastic near sellout crowd of 3,277, the Oakland Ballers forced a third and final game to the opening round of the 2024 Pioneer Baseball League playoffs by defeating the Yolo High Wheelers in a thrilling, well played, and tight pitchers’ duel, fending off their rivals, 1-0, in a contest that featured consistently elegant fielding by Yolo’s second baseman, Bobby Lada; brilliant mound work by Yolo’s four and Oakland’s three hurlers; a leaping over the wall first inning catch of Brett Barrrera’s drive to left by Yolo’s David Glancy; Oakland’s Brett Carson’s powerful, game deciding homer over the left centerfield fence in the fifth; and some clutch pitching in the ninth by Braydon Nelson, who, after a leadoff single to the speedy Brayland Skinner, who took second on a passed ball, retired Yolo’s second, third, and fourth batters to preserve Oakland’s win and gain the save.

Carson was the only player on either team to have a multiple hit night; his leadoff single to center in the third preceded his game winning shot. Yolo’s Braylin Marine got the only other extra base hit of the evening, a double off the centerfield wall to open the visitors’ fourth. That should give you an idea of how good the pitching was.

Chandler David went six innings for the Ballers to earn the win, allowing but one hit. It was Marine’s two bagger. David showed good control; although he hit one batter, he didn’t walk any. He notched nine strikeouts, and his ratio of fly outs to ground outs was 3-6.

He threw 68 pitches to the 20 High Wheelers he faced. Conner Sullivan allowed two hits and struck out four in his two inning relief stint. It took Nelson 15 pitches to earn the save I described in the first paragraph of this dispatch.

Brandon Mitchell pitched 5-1/3 strong innings, during which he allowed five hits, including Carson’s decisive blow,and a walk. He was charged with the tough loss. Ethan Bates faced three batters in his inning on the mound.

He retired all of them, one on a called third strike, but threw a wild pitch with an inherited runner on base. Andrew LaCour walked one and struck out one in his 2/3 of an inning. And Connor Langrell fanned one batter in the eighth. His brief mound tenure would have been perfected if the third strike hadn’t been a wild pitch that allowed Barrera to reach first, where he was stranded.

The Ballers’ victory forced a third, elimination game between the two California entries in the Pioneer League, both of which have the same principal owners. That game will be played Friday the 13th, at Raimondi Park in West Oakland. The scheduled starting time is 6:35. A few tickets still are available and can be purchased at oaklandballers.com.

The league championship series that awaits the survivor of Friday’s all or nothing set-to will be against the winner of the Glacier Range Riders-Missoula PaddleHeads series. On Tuesday, the Range Riders won the first game between them, and Thursday’s match was rained out.

That contest has been rescheduled for Friday. A third game, if necessary, is set for Saturday. The championship round schedule depends on who does what to whom in the coming days.

For the Ballers right now, the day that matters is Friday the 13th.